Fox News host Mark Levin broke publicly with President Trump this week over the administration's plan to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey and lift all sanctions against Ankara, calling the proposed deal a "big mistake" that Americans do not support and future administrations will spend decades trying to undo.
Levin's criticism, posted on the social platform X, landed the same day Trump sat down with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara for a bilateral meeting ahead of the NATO summit. It added a prominent conservative voice to a growing chorus of opposition that already includes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers.
The pushback raises a pointed question: Why is the United States preparing to hand one of its most advanced weapons platforms to a NATO ally that still possesses a Russian air-defense system, and whose leader, by Levin's account, recently threatened to destroy Israel?
In his first post, as reported by The Hill, Levin wrote that it was "Christmas in Turkey."
"We're piling on so many generous and expensive gifts even Erdogan is surprised. Big mistake."
A second post sharpened the point. Levin wrote that Erdoğan had "threatened to destroy Israel the other day" and that the administration "not only said nothing but went ahead with the F-35 and jet engine sales AND will lift all sanctions against Turkey, and we are doing so while lavishly praising Erdogan."
He warned that the consequences of the deal "will have to be dealt with by future American administrations for decades to come" and said the American people "do not support providing these top-line military gifts to Erdogan and his regime."
Levin is not a marginal figure. He hosts one of the highest-rated programs on Fox News and commands a large, loyal audience of conservative voters. When he breaks with a Republican president, particularly this one, it registers.
The F-35 is a fifth-generation fighter jet built by Lockheed Martin. It can fly roughly 1,200 miles, conduct long-range strike missions, gather intelligence, and lead attacks coordinated with drone swarms. It is the backbone of allied air power across the Western world.
Turkey was originally part of the F-35 program. But Congress blocked the transfer of the jets through the 2020 Defense Authorization Act after Ankara purchased Russia's S-400 missile defense system. The concern was straightforward: allowing a Russian radar platform to operate alongside American stealth technology would compromise the F-35's classified capabilities.
Trump himself enacted the ban on F-35 sales to Turkey during his first term. Now he says he will reverse course and remove the sanctions that currently bar the deal.
When reporters asked Trump whether he had concerns about the S-400 being handed over to a third party, he was direct: "I have no concerns about anything having to do with Turkey."
He went further, praising the state of the relationship. "I would say the relationship with Turkey is better probably than it's ever been," Trump told reporters. "It was good in my first four years, but I think it's probably better than that if that's possible." He also praised Erdoğan for making Turkey "a much better country, a much more powerful country."
Trump's confidence aside, the resistance is bipartisan. On July 2, a group of U.S. lawmakers sent a letter to the president arguing that Erdoğan's "continued aggression" toward Israel made selling the F-35s "not in the best interest of our country." The letter was posted on the website of at least one member of Congress, though the full list of signatories was not detailed in available reporting.
The diplomatic landscape around this deal has grown increasingly complicated, a dynamic visible in Trump's recent blunt phone call with Netanyahu, which underscored the tensions between Washington's various Middle East relationships.
Netanyahu himself weighed in publicly. In a Fox News appearance, the Israeli prime minister said delivering the jets to Turkey would "upset the power balance in the Middle East, which is ultimately guaranteed by Israeli air superiority, and also by, I think... America's posture in the Middle East."
That is not a vague diplomatic objection. Netanyahu is saying plainly that arming Turkey with F-35s weakens Israel's ability to defend itself, and weakens America's strategic position in the region at the same time.
The timeline here deserves attention. Trump blocked the F-35 sale to Turkey during his first term. Congress codified that block in law. The S-400 system remains in Turkish hands. And now the same president who imposed the ban is moving to undo it, while the underlying conditions that prompted the ban have not changed.
The broader diplomatic context is worth noting. The administration has been navigating a series of high-stakes foreign policy pivots, including a shift toward diplomacy on Iran that has reshaped the posture of several senior officials.
What has changed, apparently, is the relationship between the two leaders. Trump's public praise for Erdoğan during the Ankara meeting was effusive. But personal rapport between heads of state does not eliminate the security risks that led both the executive branch and Congress to block the sale in the first place.
The most important gap in this story remains unfilled: What happens to the S-400? The entire rationale for blocking the F-35 sale was the risk that Russian radar systems would be used to study and compromise American stealth technology. Trump says he has "no concerns" about the S-400 being transferred to a third party, but he has not explained why.
Has Turkey agreed to give up the system? Has a deal been struck to send it to another country? Has the intelligence community assessed that the risk has been mitigated? None of these questions have been publicly answered.
Meanwhile, the deal also reportedly includes jet engine sales and the lifting of all sanctions against Turkey, a scope that goes well beyond simply resuming the F-35 program. The full terms, including price, delivery timeline, and conditions, remain unclear.
The administration has faced criticism from multiple directions on its Middle East approach, including sharp exchanges with critics over the Iran ceasefire deal. The Turkey question adds another front.
Levin's objection is not rooted in anti-Trump sentiment. He is one of the president's most consistent allies in conservative media. His criticism is rooted in a specific policy concern shared by members of Congress in both parties and by America's closest ally in the Middle East.
When a Fox News host with Levin's credibility says the American people "do not support providing these top-line military gifts to Erdogan and his regime," it reflects something real. Conservative voters who back Trump on trade, immigration, and deregulation do not automatically support arming a NATO ally that bought Russian weapons and whose leader has made threatening statements about Israel.
The political environment in Washington is already volatile, with partisan tensions running high on everything from inflammatory rhetoric by Democratic leaders to foreign policy disagreements within the GOP itself. Levin's public break on Turkey adds a new fault line.
Levin warned that these decisions will burden future administrations for decades. That is a serious charge from a serious voice on the right. And until someone in the administration explains what has changed since the first term, beyond the personal chemistry between two presidents, it is a charge that will be difficult to dismiss.
Good relationships between leaders are useful. But foreign policy built on personal rapport alone, without addressing the strategic conditions that prompted a bipartisan weapons ban, is not dealmaking. It is gift-giving.
